The Art of Video Games comes to the Smithsonian

Starting this Friday, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which represents more than 7,000 artists from American history, is dedicating a three-day festival to a different art form: video games.

The event—spanning Friday, March 16 to Sunday, March 18—marks a major victory for the medium, which has long struggled to be considered a canvas for legitimate art. Chris Melissinos, video game collector and founder of Past Pixels, is the curator of the exhibition, the first of its kind. His book, The Art of Video Games: From Pac-Man to Mass Effect, goes on sale this week.

"The Art of Video Games" will commence a national tour after a six-month stay at the American Art Museum, located in in downtown Washington, D.C.. Details about the traveling exhibition can be found at the museum's website.